Shocking discovery of a woman who suffered from severe itching between the fingers

A woman has been diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer after complaining of severe itching between her toes, which occurs as a result of severe moisture in the feet, especially in the summer.

Amy Jardon, who was 40 years old from Iowa when she was diagnosed, said the itching began in early 2015, and when she decided to look closely between her toes, she saw a pin-tip-sized brown spot between the toes.

She continued, according to the newspaper "Daily Mail", that she had not seen the spot before, and it also had rings scattered around it, which made it look like a miniature planet Saturn.

So Amy decided to examine her, and she was shocked when the doctors told her the nature of the problem. Specialists decided to take a biopsy and later diagnosed her with melanoma, a rare skin cancer that occurs only in the hands, feet and nails.

While melanoma – the main form of skin cancer – is usually caused by exposure to ultraviolet rays from sunlight that lead to mutations in skin cells, making them cancerous, bright melanoma, a rare type of condition, appears in areas that are not normally exposed to sunlight.

The Cancer Treatment Center in California's City of Hope, ranked as one of the best in the country, said the cancer could be caused by skin stress "in parts of the body that are not regularly exposed to sunlight." Researchers don't know exactly what causes skin cancer, but it is thought to be linked to pressure, friction, irritation and trauma in the area.

Skin irritation and friction can lead to inflammation in the area, increasing the risk of harmful mutations in skin cells and, as a result, skin cancer. But this does not happen very often.

It is already known that runners who spend a lot of time outdoors are more likely to develop skin cancer due to their increased exposure to sunlight. But they can also cause more irritation to their feet through running, which can increase the risk of other forms of skin cancer.

Amy's oncologist recommended the cancer be removed in a procedure called extensive lesion excision — where a scalpel is used to cut the cancerous skin and surrounding health area.
After surgery, the patient spent a month sitting on the couch with her foot lifted off the floor while the skin healed. When the stitches were removed – which helped the skin grow – she was encouraged to start returning weight to her foot.

Despite the successful removal operation, Amy must undergo tests once a year.

Warning signs include an inflamed lesion on the hands or feet, a black, gray or tan spot with irregular borders or an unexplained line in the nail.

The spots can also have a pattern of parallel hills – or form several lines – that may look similar to rings around Saturn.
Inflammation caused by cancer in the affected area can also cause itching. The main treatment for cancer is surgery to remove cancer cells before they spread to other areas of the body.

About 94 out of every 100 people with skin cancer survive the condition for five years or more after diagnosis.
But among patients with bright melanoma, the survival rate is slightly lower, at 80 out of every 100 people five years after diagnosis.

The researchers suggest that this may be because the cancer takes longer to diagnose due to its location, increasing the risk of it spreading to other areas of the body.